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English for parents – number two

What’s a number two? When you’re potty training it’s that thing you definitely don’t want to end up on the floor, the one it’s the hardest to train and the smelliest.

Poo. ( less commonly in the UK, poop) With children you can ask, do you need a poo? Do you want to go number two? Are you doing a poo? Or, are you having a poo? Are you pooing?

Poo or number two are the most child friendly words, you might hear ‘spend tuppence’ but that’s a bit old fashioned now.

More impolite or crude phrases are taking a shit, having a crap, taking a dump. Shit and crap are both verbs and nouns.

At the doctor’s you can talk about poo, not pooing ( constipation) or too much poo (diarrhoea). The doctor might ask you for a stool sample ( put your poo in a pot for testing). A bowel movement is poo, especially if the you’re taking about the condition or how often you’re pooing. Finally, defecate is the formal verb to poo.

We also use these words as swear words too. This is shit/crap = this is terrible. And kids love to say poo, because it’s a silly and taboo word.